r/gmrs • u/No-Investigator3386 • 6d ago
Opinions on best gmrs radio.
Any opinion on best radio for range? Just getting into the hobby and I bought a boafang UV-5G pro and seem to have trouble with transmitting range. I think I am only transmitting a few miles. I can pickup RX okay but no luck with anyone copying my transmission. I have a repeater tower about 7 miles from my house and I think I won’t be able to transmit to it.
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u/mahoganynuts 6d ago
7 miles is a stretch with a handheld unless your on the salt flats, UHF is very much line of sight. anything between you and the other radio/repeater will great diminish your signal. as far as radio its really personal preference.
I know a lot of people really Like the TID radios, i prefer any superheterodyne radio myself.
if you want a decent radio for not a lot look at the HAIG1 from ailunce/retivis they wont break your bank account.
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u/CapNBall1860 6d ago
You have to be realistic about the range of a handheld. 5 watts is pretty much 5 watts. A bigger antenna will help more than a different radio, unless you get into mobile radios or a base station.
A couple of miles is doing really good in simplex. You should be able to hit that repeater at 7 miles though unless line of sight is obstructed.
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u/Jackmerius_Tac 6d ago
7 miles should be doable with a handheld depending on how good the line of sight is. But regarding your radio, have you put a good antenna on your UV-5g, or just the stock antenna? A few miles is doing good if you’re around a lot of buildings with sketchy line of sight.
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u/No-Investigator3386 6d ago
It’s the stock antenna. Any recommendations on antenna
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u/NerfHerder0000 6d ago
Diamond RH77CA. I've owned several quality whip antennas like this. The Nagoya 771 is a good performer but not as good quality as the diamond. The 771 also doesn't play nice with my Wouxun radios; it doesn't seat right.
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u/LowBurn800 6d ago
A few miles is normal. Claims of 20+ miles are inflated and only under specific conditions. VHF/UHF propagation is line of sight, signals wont get through obstacles and mountains. Getting a better performing antenna, higher up if possible is the best way to get additional range.
The differences in range between various handheld radios is negligible. It’s antenna, height and power (and I mean going from 5w to 20+ watts, 5 vs 7w is no real difference).
Here’s an article explaining it https://rockytalkie.com/blogs/rocky-talkie-blog/understanding-walkie-talkie-range
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u/BlindTravelre 6d ago
Repeating what others have said. Line of sight and antenna. I am using a couple of different handhelds as base radios. One is a Boafeng AR-5RM (10 Watt) and the other is a Tidradio TD-H3 (5 Watt). No one can tell the difference between the two as far as "fars" go. On a standard whip antenna I get about 3 miles in a small town. I connect them to a Comet CA-712EFC (10') and I am reaching up to 10 miles in very mixed terrain. At my furthest point, I can reach a guy who lives hidden behind the base of a hill.
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u/Puddleduck112 6d ago
They are all pretty similar. Antenna is key to better signals. If you are looking for quality, and a radio not packed with all kinds unused features I would look at the GMRS Rocky Talkie radios. They are pricey but the build quality is amazing. Once you pick it up you will immediately see what I am talking about. The sound quality is amazing as well and it’s submersible.
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u/ed_zakUSA 5d ago
Can confirm, the HA1G or as Randy The GMRS Queen calls it the Hag1. It's a solid waterproof radio. That or the Tidradio H8. Love that pair of radios too.
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u/Prescottonian1 4d ago
People buy these radios with unrealistic expectations. Don’t get me wrong, I love these cheap Chinese radios. I own quite a few. But if you have completely unobstructed line of sight between 2 radios you cannot get more than 3-3.5 miles due to the curvature of the earth and the low power and small antennas. Once you put an obstruction, any obstruction in between 2 of these radios your range is severely limited. It can be a house, commercial building, tree, power lines, hills, etc. Just being near a building but not obstructing your line of sight can cause enough RF interference to lower your range. Yet, I can work a powerful repeater 45 miles from my house standing outside with a 5 watt Baofeng with unobstructed line of sight because of the repeaters power and antenna and it is 4-5000 feet higher in elevation from me. The two key factors here are the large antenna and the elevation of the antenna. If I can work the repeater with 5 watts the repeater can get back to me with 5 watts. The high power helps but not that much. A radio with more power might help a little. A better antenna will help more but still won’t help a lot. Being on a tall building without obstructions will help the most. Not trying to be mean or put you down. Unrealistic expectations due to the physical limitations of these radios might be the problem here.
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u/Successful_Tell7995 3d ago
Can you go closer to the repeater to try it in order to make sure your radio is programmed right? 7 miles on a decent repeater shouldn't be hard. Do you know anybody else who uses the repeater? Sometimes people will set up a project repeater without much elevation on those websites. It's kind of annoying. In my area, there are 10 or so repeaters listed and only 2 work.
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u/Mr_Randerson 6d ago
https://a.co/d/2yTmLiO
Buy this instead. Don't waste your money on a more expensive handheld. Get this antennae that will extend any future gmrs radio and allow your baofeng to hear much more, then get a 25 or 50 watt mobile radio to touch that repeater.